Authors:Michael KochenashFirst page: 1Abstract: Source: Volume 60, Issue 1, pp 1 - 13In Acts 9:36-43, Tabitha’s name is both transliterated from Aramaic (Tabitha) and translated into Greek (Dorcas). Because both names mean “deer” and this episode follows Peter’s healing of Aeneas, Tabitha’s name can be read as an allusion to Virgil’s Dido, juxtaposing the expansion of the kingdom of God with that of Rome. Virgil’s Aeneid characterizes Dido as a deer and Aeneas as her hunter. Luke initiates the expansion of the kingdom of God by emphasizing its compassion for marginalized individuals (in contrast to Roman disregard). Whereas Rome leaves women dead in the wake of its progression, the agents of the kingdom of God bring women back to life.PubDate: 2018-12-27T00:00:00Z

Authors:Stephen Robert Llewelyn; Alexandra Robinson Blake Edward WassellFirst page: 14Abstract: Source: Volume 60, Issue 1, pp 14 - 23John 8:44 has been a source of concern because of its ambiguity. Is it to be read “of (your) father, the devil” or “of the father of the devil”' This article contends that the former, traditional reading is not ungrammatical as suggested in the grammars and more recently by DeConick and that accordingly the verse cannot be considered pro-gnostic.PubDate: 2018-12-27T00:00:00Z

Authors:S.M. BaughFirst page: 24Abstract: Source: Volume 60, Issue 1, pp 24 - 44It is typical for students of the book of Hebrews to comment on its long, complex sentences or “periods” as evidence of the author’s literary and rhetorical skills. This essay surveys ancient and modern views on the Greek period and finds that they are typically shorter, antithetical or “rounded” statements which may or may not coincide with a grammatical sentence. Example periods in Hebrews are then discussed along with observations on other, supporting literary features of the epistle in those places where the author occasionally employs a periodic style.PubDate: 2018-12-27T00:00:00Z

Authors:Robert DoranFirst page: 45Abstract: Source: Volume 60, Issue 1, pp 45 - 54The phrase ‘from one’ in Heb 2:11 does not refer to some common ancestor or creator, but is the commonplace that common predication connects those so predicated. At Heb 7:12, the author draws upon the accepted connection in the Mediterranean world between form of government and worldview/religion—to change one is to change the other—and so the argument is rhetorically persuasive.PubDate: 2018-12-27T00:00:00Z

Authors:Clare K. RothschildFirst page: 55Abstract: Source: Volume 60, Issue 1, pp 55 - 82Today scholarship has reached an impasse as to the origin of the well-known fragment published by L. A. Muratori. Approximately half accepts a second-century Roman provenance based on views held by, for example, Adolf von Harnack and Samuel Tregelles. The other half, following Albert C. Sundberg Jr., accepts a fourth-century Eastern provenance. This paper argues that the Fragment represents an attempt to provide a venerable second-century precedent for a later position on canon. The present essay restricts itself to three aspects of the debate: (1) initial discovery; (2) Fraternity Legend and Catalogue of Heresies; and, (3) historical settings in which such a text might have emerged.PubDate: 2018-12-27T00:00:00Z